A coalition of student groups at Indiana University and Bloomgton City Council President Dave Rollo is calling for IU President Michael McRobbie to join the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.
Several students met outside the Sample Gates Tuesday morning, drawing attending to global warming and other climate issues.
After brief speeches from Rollo and others, the group marched into Bryan Hall and hand delivered a letter to McRobbie's staff, asking the president to move IU toward a more sustainable future.
"This coalition is urging Mr. McRobbie -- President McRobbie -- to join other campuses in their effort for carbon neutrality and cut emissions," Rollo said. "So we are committing ourselves to it, and we're hoping the university will work with us in that regard."
Rollo said the university needs to begin monitoring its emissions output to first get a handle on where it stands.
From there, it could then begin to take appropriate actions.
Rollo said simple things such as turning to local sources of food for campus dining facilities could have a significant impact on reducing the amount of fuel used in transporting produce from distant sources.
"What the campus can do, they're a city of their own, in a sense," Rollo said. "They have transportation facilities, they have building facilities, heathing (facilities). So I think the first thing they can do is take stock of where they're at in the emissions they produce, and then begin a strategic plan on how to go about cutting emissions. Some steps will be easier than others, obviously."
Elliot Hayden, an IU student, said global warming is the preeminent issue facing society.
"Reversing global warming is undoubtably the defining challenge of the 21st century," he said. "This is a challenege of immense proportions, one that desperately calls for the vision and leadership of higher education. Higher ed plays a unique role in society, charged with the task of producing the knowledge and skills that will result in a thriving global society, and leading the task of reversing human-induced global warming."
Hayden said McRobbie can join presidents from other Indiana colleges and universities, including Indiana State, Ball State, and Goshen, by signing the ACUPCC. There are currently 427 other university signatories across the country.
IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said the university will take a solid look at a forthcoming report from a sustainability task force and make any appropriate actions from there. A draft of that report is expected to be issued soon.
Giri Krishnan came to IU from India. He said he didn't realize the full extent of the global warming problem until he came to America.
"It is in this place that we need to make a change first in order for the rest of the world to change," Krishnan said. "As a graduate student at IU, I look forward that IU gets the leadership and makes the very important change to not just influence (here) locally, but globally across the world."
Rollo cited the city's work in passing a resolution supporting the Kyoto Protocol and Mayor Mark Kruzan's signing of the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement as ways local bodies can have an impact on international issues.
"I strongly encourage you to join the City's efforts and the efforts of college and university leaders throughout the country in exerting leadership in addressing climate change by signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment," Rollo's letter reads.
